It’s no secret that Ken Holland and Jeff Blashill have recently been making moves that are setting up the Detroit Red Wings to be a bigger, tougher, and more physical opponent to play against in the near future, and that’s all well and good. Hockey is a rugged sport that demands players who possess a gritty prowess, but is focusing on larger and more physical players the correct long-term goal for Detroit?
The historic and successful Red Wings’ teams of yesteryear most certainly had their fair share of rough and rugged characters. Players such as Bob Probert, Joey Kocur, Darren McCarty, Kirk Maltby, Vladimir Konstantinov, and Brendan Shanahan all played significant roles in Detroit’s prosperity over the last quarter century.